Feel free to add to or edit information in this discussion tab as necessary. Please take time to become familiar with the General Keying Standards and be sure to read all instructions on the main project page. (Please note that in case of a discrepancy, project level instructions always trump general keying standards.)

Extra Keying Helps

Common Keying Errors Found by Reviewers

No Data Images. There are very few of these. The pages between each of the census sheets are title pages containing information to be keyed. Sometimes they initaally appear to be blank, they are not, scroll the screen all the way to the right. These missing title pages account for the majority of "skipped records" and "Wrong form type" entries. --Paulmd199 18:01, 28 October 2012 (UTC)

Questions and Answers

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Q: In keying data from the Schedule of Special Census of Indians, I have found 2 instances in which the response on the record is not appropriate to the field prompt:

1. in the field ENGLISH, SPANISH, FRENCH, OR OTHER NAME HABITUALLY USED, the name for a woman with an INDIAN NAME is "Mrs. Jake." "Mrs." doesn't seem appropriate to be keyed as a Given Name although "Jake" does match the given name for other family members. How should I key the Given name for "Mrs. Jake?"

A: I cannot tell you what is "right" in this circumstance, but I will share some observations from the keying of the Washington Indians. What often happens when an Indian adopts a White name, it is often only his given name, but his wife and descendants keep it as a surname and pass it down. Thus there were surnames Like "Jimmy" amongst the Washington Indians. My best guess is that Mrs Jake is the husband of a man whose GIVEN name was Jake. I believe that Jake is also the SURNAME of The wife, and maybe the kids. I cannot promise that a reviewer will see things this way. --Paulmd199 21:08, 25 October 2012 (UTC)

A: This is an instance where you would use your best judgment. After reviewing the records enter the name as you see it should be entered. Mrs would not go in the Given Name field but you may want to make her relationship mother or wife - this would indicate that the individual is a female. Annafechter 12:29, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

2. On the same record as in #1 above, a third person listed with the family has the word "single" entered into the RELATIONSHIP column of the image. Since "Single" is also the keyed response for the Marital Status field, how should I key the Relationship field."

A: Per recent addition to the Keying Standards, you would apply the response Single to marital status, and if the Relationship is not found elsewhere, leave it empty.

Update: Upon further inspection of the sheets in question it appears as if this enumerator is listing several households per sheet Which is probably why he's been leaving household numbers blank. He is marking all heads of household as "head", except when he finds a person living alone, in which case her marks them "single", there being no other members of the household to be head of. --Paulmd199 06:59, 28 October 2012 (UTC)